1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a magnetic recording device having an improved slider.
2. Description of the Background Art
Digital magnetic recording devices for data storage generally comprise a thin film magnetic recording disk and a head or transducer which is moved along or above the surface of the rotating disk to electromagnetically read and write information on the disk. Advanced thin film magnetic recording disks comprise a rigid substrate, a magnetic layer such as a cobalt-based metal alloy, a protective amorphous carbon layer and a lubricant layer, such as a perfluoropolyether disposed on the carbon overcoat.
During operation of the disk drive system, an actuator mechanism moves the magnetic transducer to a desired radial position on the surface of the rotating disk where the head electromagnetically reads or writes data. Usually, the head is integrally mounted in a carrier or support referred to as a xe2x80x9csliderxe2x80x9d. A slider generally serves to mechanically support the head and any electrical connections between the head and the rest of the disk drive system. The slider is aerodynamically shaped to glide over moving air and, therefore, to maintain a uniform distance from the surface of the rotating disk, thereby preventing the head from undesirably contacting the disk.
Some disk substrates have a dual zone texture which comprises a highly polished surface over the area of the disk used for reading and writing data, and a textured surface over the area of the disk used for landing the head when the recording device is not in use. The highly polished surface of the xe2x80x9cdata zonexe2x80x9d functions to: a) minimize interactions between the surface of the disk and head and b) reduce the number of errors encountered during reading and writing operations. The textured xe2x80x9clanding zonexe2x80x9d and its presence is desired to eliminate stiction upon file start-up. Stiction is the tendency of a landed stationary magnetic recording head to resist movement, e.g., translational movement along the surface of the disk. High stiction can lead to mechanical failure of the head or disk.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,661,618 by Brown et al. discloses that during operation of a recording device at higher RPM, liquid contaminates condense on the trailing edge of a slider. When the slider stops on the surface of the disk, even in a textured landing zone, these liquid contaminants can bridge onto the disk to create significant stiction for the slider. In order to overcome the problem, Brown teaches coating the trailing edge of the slider with a thin organic film having a low surface energy less than 25 ergs/cm2 to minimize any condensation of contaminates on the trailing edge of the slider during operation of the recording device. In manufacturing, the organic film was generally applied at the slider row level and in some cases, subsequent manufacturing process steps degraded the film thereby increasing its surface energy and substantially decrease its effectiveness in reducing stiction. Therefore, there is still a need in the art for a magnetic recording device having improved resistance to stiction.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a magnetic recording device with a slider having a more robust low surface energy trailing edge. Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following disclosure.
The present invention relates to a magnetic recording device comprising (a) a disk comprising a substrate, a metallic magnetic layer, a carbon layer and a lubricant layer; (b) a motor associated with a disk operable for rotating the disk; (c) a head supported on an air bearing slider for magnetically reading data from or magnetically writing data to the magnetic layer on the disk, the trailing surface of the slider coated with a multilayered film having a surface energy less than 25 ergs/cm2; and (d) an actuator connected to the slider for moving the head across the disk.
The multilayered film on the trailing surface of the slider preferably comprises three layers: (a) a silicon containing layer disposed on the slider, (b) a carbon containing layer disposed on the silicon layer, and (c) a fluorocarbon layer disposed on the carbon layer. Suitably the multilayered film can be beam deposited (e.g., plasma) onto the trailing surface of the slider.
A more thorough disclosure of the present invention is presented in the detailed description which follows and the accompanying figures.